Smoking is the leading preventable cause of such chronic diseases as cancer, coronary heart disease, and respiratory diseases. While current smoking cessation interventions have demonstrated efficacy, long-term quit rates remain low. Interventions to increase exercise among smokers attempting to quit represents a potentially efficacious approach to smoking cessation outcomes. The objective of this proposal is to support the candidate's development of skills to perform patient-oriented research in the area of exercise interventions for smokers. The career development plan consists of obtaining training in exercise science, smoking cessation, and treatment outcome research. The Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior of Brown Medical School and Butler Hospital are both intellectually stimulating environments with more than adequate resources to ensure the candidate's successful achievement of her training goals. Dr. Richard A. Brown, the primary mentor, and Drs. Riebe and Strong (co-mentors) are each experts in smoking, exercise science, and statistics, respectively. The research plan will consist of two phases. In the first phase, a moderate intensity exercise intervention, including a behavioral component, for participants in a standard smoking cessation program will be developed. During this phase, 20 participants will complete the protocol and will provide ongoing feedback regarding their experiences and perceptions of the intervention. This feedback, along with the recommendations of study staff, will be used to modify and refine the protocol, and intervention manuals for clinicians and participants will be developed. In the second phase of the project, will recruit 60 smokers who will be randomly assigned to either one of two conditions: 1) 12-week moderate intensity behavioral exercise intervention (MlBE) AND 12-week smoking cessation including transdermal nicotine patch or 2) 12-week health education control (HEC) AND 12-week smoking cessation including transdermal nicotine patch. Based on the outcome of the preliminary trial, the behavioral exercise intervention will be further refined and readied for larger-scale clinical trial through the R01 mechanism. This award would provide Dr. Ana Abrantes with the opportunity to obtain the necessary expertise to develop an independent research career focused on developing effective exercise interventions for addictive behaviors. Relevance to Public Health: We expect that this project will contribute much needed knowledge about the role of aerobic exercise in smoking cessation. If the efficacy of moderate-intensity, aerobic exercise for smoking can be established, smokers may have a valuable adjunct to more traditional smoking cessation approaches.